A Promise Made
by izwan
Summary: Another one short I made. An alternative to the alternatives. Happened right after Mengsk died. Disclaimer: I don't own SC and anything associated with it.


**Alright people, first of all, this had nothing to do with Behind the Painted Walls or any other story that I had written. Are we clear on that? Good. Let's get on with the story. Oh, this is just a one short and there's an announcement to be made at the bottom.**

It's done. It's all done.

Standing on the rubble of what used to be her enemy's throne room, Kerrigan laid her eyes toward the horizon. Situated somewhere near the highest level of the palace, it afforded Kerrigan a beautiful panoramic view of the city. Deep contentment and the feeling of peace flowed through her body and were clearly shown on her face. All around her, assorted Zerg creatures began their ascent towards the Leviathan now stationary in orbit directly above Augustgrad. Acturus Mengsk was dead. He's finally dead. She had done what she had to do. She should be happy but…

"You did it."

Kerrigan startled. She turned towards the owner of that voice, only to see that he was smiling at her. That beloved bearded face had been watching her all this while. She had disappointed that face so many times and yet, still he came back to her.

"I've always known you could," once again he spoke. There was still the smile and as of now he began to close the distance between them. Kerrigan kept silent. She had now turned back, once again looking towards the horizon. Despite not looking, she knew that Raynor was now standing close behind her.

"It's done, Jim. It's all over," she said softly.

"It's over for Mengsk, Sarah. Not for us," replied Raynor. His eyes still rest upon the woman in front of him. The same woman whom he had sacrificed everything to bring her back to him. Just like Liddy.

"Where I'm going, you can't follow."

Raynor sighed. It happened. It finally happened. He then took Kerrigan's arm and turned her towards him. Her eyes were no longer the light shade of green he used to adore but also not the eerily glowing yellow in which he despised either. It was still glowing though, but now in bluish purple.

"I was afraid you're gonna say that, darlin'."

"You're not going to follow me, Jim. I know you want to but you must not."

"I know, Sarah. I understand what you have said and I respected your decision, like always. You're going to this all alone and I'm not going to stop you. But if you need help, you know where to find me."

Kerrigan smiled. She began to caress the man's cheek while looking hungrily at the face that she soon will miss. She then said softly, "Thank you for understanding, Jim."

"Just promise me that you'll come back alive."

"There's no knowing what the future will hold for me, Jim. But you still have a chance. I can't promise that I will come back, but I'll promise that I will keep on fighting so that you'll continue to have that chance," replied Kerrigan.

"That's not good enough, Sarah."

"That's the best I could come up with, Jim. I don't want to give you false promise and fruitless hope. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Raynor sighed. She's right. As always. He looked up towards the Leviathan. Multiple streams of Zerg were still flowing towards it. He then looked back towards Kerrigan. Holding her hands in his, he said, "I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have left you back there. I should have gone with you."

Kerrigan, knowing on where Raynor was getting at, replied, "I never blame you, Jim. Not for a moment I blame you for all the things that happened to me. It was my choice."

"I saw the signs, Sarah. His betrayal. His treachery. But I did nothing. I've played along."

"We all saw it, Jim. And all of us played along and had paid steep price for it."

"I could have saved you."

"You already did, Jim," replied Kerrigan while her fingers continued to grip Raynor's hand. "Back then before Tarsonis. You've already saved me. I had lost my hope. Humanity for me was nothing more than a rotten pile of garbage. To me, humanity wasn't worth saving. I had begun to fall into the spiral of darkness at that time. But you brought me back. You've shown that there's still good in humanity, that they worth saving. You've rescued me."

Raynor kept quiet. It was clear to her that a lot was playing inside his mind. Continuing caressing his hand, Kerrigan spoke softly, "Do you still remember Antiga Prime, Jim? The first time we met?"

Raynor chuckled. "You called me a pig."

Kerrigan smiled. "And you still are. But you're my pig, Jim. That time when we were on that planet was the time that I cherished most. It was the time that I will always remembered. It brought me to you, Jim. And I'm thankful for it."

"It was my duty to look after you, Sarah."

"We were supposed to look after each other," replied Kerrigan. "And we did."

"Oh, Sarah."

Trying as hard as she could to fight back the tears that's threaten to fall down, she said, "Jim, I want you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"I want you to look for the happiness that have been denied from you for so long. Even without me."

"I'm not sure I could do that, Sarah," replied Raynor.

"Yes you could, Jim. You did found them before you met me and you will find them again. I know you will."

"Sarah, I-,"

"Jim, you've given me so much that nothing in this world would be worthy enough to repay it. Please, Jim. Give me the chance for me to do something right. For once. For you. Promise me that you will do it."

"I-."

"Promise me," urged Kerrigan as she continued to look deep into Raynor's eyes.

"I promise," Raynor finally relented.

"Thank you, Jim. I'm doing all of this for you, Jim. You're the only souvenir I got left and I promised you that I will see to it until the end."

The warm afternoon rain began to pour down and began to shower them as they continued to hold hands. An unspoken understanding began to flourish between the lovers, that they will be separated once again. Moments, later, Kerrigan began to pull away from him.

"Sarah, wait."

Smiling a sad smile, she said, "You're home now, Jim. Just remember me as someone I'm used to be."

With that, Kerrigan began to rise upwards, floating through the heaven towards the ship that was waiting for her.

Raynor continued to stand there, watching the glowing blue speck that was Kerrigan continued to ascent towards the Leviathan. Minutes later, the ship's gone.

The rain was still pouring down but Raynor stop caring. He felt empty. He felt loss. It was as if a huge part of him had once again ruthlessly torn away from him. He thought of everything she had said to him. She forced him to promise, but he doubt he could keep it. She was trying to keep him away from her, but deep inside Raynor knew that they will meet again someday.

* * *

"Mind if I join you?"

Raynor was pulled away from his thought. He turned around only to see Valerian standing not far from him. "Not at all, junior."

Valerian then walked towards Raynor and stood beside him. Silently they're both looked up towards the sky as the warm afternoon rain continued to pour down. After a few minutes of silence, it was Valerian who spoke first, "She's gone, isn't she?"

"Yeah," came the reply.

"Do you think we would see her again?"

"Perhaps."

"Any plans to go after her?"

Raynor shook his head, "No plans."

Valerian nodded. He then began to trace the sight of the city in front of him.

"Amazing isn't it?" he said. "The city was under the siege from the Zerg but still most of the city is still standing. And we even manage to save the majority of the civilians. Kerrigan do keep hold unto her promise."

Raynor kept quiet. Once again, he fell into his deep thought. Valerian continued, "I don't get to see Korhal often enough. I grew up in Umoja. Attend the Umojan military academy there. Never saw Korhal in person until I was an adult but… I still think of her as home. Come to think of it, it's the only home I got left."

Raynor still kept quiet. "I see you're not in a mood for a conversation," said Valerian. His eyes were now rested upon the rebel commander. "Jim, I won't pretend to know how you feel," he continued. "I've lost people I cared about but… never anything like you're going through."

"Our duty as soldier is to protect humanity, at all cost," Raynor finally spoke.

Valerian turned to face Raynor. "You said that like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Soldiers aren't machine, Jim. They're just people."

"That's not what your father told you, isn't it?" asked Raynor.

"I'm not my father, Jim."

"Good to hear that."

"But still," Valerian now turned back to face the city below him. "There's lot of work to be done. The attack had left us completely crippled. We had no defense against what's coming up next."

"You're a good man, Valerian, and you're much cleverer than this farm boy. I'm sure you'll know what to do."

"You're overestimating me and underestimating yourself, Jim. But thanks. I may not be able to return the Dominion into its former glory, but I could provide a shelter where all of us could seek protection into. It won't be much but as long as it gives people hope, that will be good enough for me."

"I know you will."

"And that's why I will need you in this, Jim. Humanity will need a good person like you."

"I'm not sure how I can contribute, Valerian. I've always been a soldier. The future really ain't for me."

Valerian sighed. "A lot of times, I really wished we would have more men like you, Jim. You've done so much for humanity that it seems unfair that you got nothing in return. I know how much you and Kerrigan would like to see the best thing that ever happen to humanity happened and I'm giving you the chance to make it work. Kerrigan might not be with us, but you can do it for her."

"I need some time to think."

"Yes and I hope in the end you will agree." With that Valerian walked off towards the exit of the throne room.

Raynor continued to look towards the sky. That rain had stopped and the ethereal ray of sunshine began to shine through patches of hole in the clouds. One of the rays fell onto Raynor's face, basking it the soft warmth of the afternoon sun.

"For Sarah," he whispered.

**A/n: Okay, first of all I will to to announce that I'm taking Behind the Painted Wall story out. I hit a huge brickwall on that fic with no room to manouver. Beside, the HotS had been concluded and there were multiple good HoTS story in this site that I felt pointless for me to continue with that fic. I like to apologize and give a big thank you to those who had reviewed, favorited and followed that story. May God bless you all. I will continue with Blood Roses of course and from time to time post assorted short stories.**


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